


move me like music

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Post-Episode: s01e08 The Defenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-14 00:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16028969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: Defenders AU - Jessica wasn't at Midland Circle, she was doing something else at the time and totally didn't get the call.  So when she picks up a blind guy from a bar (a few times, whatever) she doesn't really know what she's getting into.





	move me like music

**Author's Note:**

> I had a little writing snit over Labor Day weekend and started and discarded a bunch of things. Seems like the romance & smutty bits were all in the version of this I threw out.
> 
> I wanted so much more for this but it turned into, sort of, a Jessica Jones case!fic. I have little bits leftover and may revisit.

_You're so sweet_  
_Your smile, your pussy and your bones_  
_You're on fire_  
_You move me like music with your style_

 

"Buzz off, I'm not what you're looking for," she snarled at the sweaty man who slurred something in her direction and veered into her personal space. He definitely wasn't what _she_ was looking for.

Three beers and a whiskey ago, she'd picked out a possibility at the opposite end of the bar. He was still nursing his second and she appreciated the ripple of his sleeves from his hidden biceps. He hadn't responded to her steady glances so far but when she checked again, she spotted the glare of the neon bar-lights in his dark shades as he tilted his head and smiled, listening.

At least she knew why her 'come hither' glances hadn't clued him in.

She considered walking away - he was a blind guy, he wouldn't know the difference - but there was a lazy grace to his posture and her blood alcohol level tipped her curiosity meter. And it would be a plus that he wouldn't notice if her bra and panties matched so she found her way to the empty patch of bar beside him.  
  
He tilted his head and curled half his mouth up in a smirk.  Yeah, he would do just fine.

 

* * *

 

 

She scratched her head, confused and sluggish. Normal for her, but she knew this morning was different because there was a guy on her couch and she was pointedly not well-fucked.  She'd brought this guy home several times and that had never happened. "What happened last night?"

Her date snapped awake, blinking with sightless eyes as he fumbled for his shades. "What time is it?"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Early. Last night?"

He pushed his socked feet into his battered shoes and pushed a hand through his hair as he stood up. "I know we're barely acquaintances, but consent is a thing. You weren't sober enough to give proper consent last night and I wasn't sober enough to leave before daylight. You might not know my name, but I don't like being called someone else's," he added, halfway across the room.

"Wait - " she called when the rush of cold panic allowed her voice. "Your name is Matt."

"I have to go - if I don't get there before dawn they lock the door," he said.

"Do you stay at a halfway house for vampires?" she blurted out. "I just figured you were married."

"No - it's already daylight, isn't it?" he hesitated.

"Yeah, past eight," she said. "Can you make a call?" He shook his head but the office phone startled them both with the sharp ring.

"You still have a landline?" he asked hoarsely.

She answered the phone so she didn't have to answer him. "Alias Investigations, we're closed."

_"Good. Do you have something that doesn't belong to you?"_

Before she could react, Matt was beside her, taking the phone. "I fell asleep, how do you have this number?"

"How did you hear - " Jessica started but he was visibly panicked. He didn't wear panic well, or maybe that was the hangover.

"Give me twenty minutes. I know the way - no, I drank too much, it's not - no. No. Twenty minutes." He held the phone out to her. "I'm very sorry."

She glared at him and knew he felt it even if he couldn't 'see' it. _"Ms. Jones - your reputation makes me think threatening you is the wrong choice here, so I'll play it straight. Your playmate needs to stay invisible at all costs. He has a little trouble picking out camera placement and daylight makes it harder for him to stick to shadows, right? Right. Is he gone yet?"_

Jessica glanced up at her empty apartment. "Fuck you."

_"No hard feelings, ma'am. He has to be off the streets by dawn, we know you're good people so it's not personal. It's necessary right now, but it's not personal."_ The line went dead.

But it was personal since she'd apparently blacked out and given mixed signals to a blind guy that was hiding more than a wife in his walk-of-shame.

The whole reason she stuck to one night stands was to avoid complications exactly like this. Now some asshole fugitive or vampire motherfucker was going to fuck over her minimal zen. But she would be finding his punk-ass again to talk about that whole 'consent' lecture.

 

* * *

 

  
"I didn't know you were a PI. That's on me."

She didn't flinch at his sudden appearance since she'd been searching the periphery for days but it wasn't quite dark out yet and she was at a Starbucks, not a bar. "Aren't you breaking your own rules right now?" She raised her eyes from her phone and realized he was attempting a disguise.  "The beard's not working for you."

He scrubbed his fingers through the rough hair. "It was the only way my keepers allowed me back out after breaking my promise. I figured I owed you an explanation."

"Your 'keepers'? What kind of trouble are you in?"

He laughed roughly. "Not your kind. You're better off forgetting you met me."

"You opened this conversation stating that I was a PI, so you should know that's not going to fly."

He leaned closed and pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. "I've been dead a year and a half. A lot of people would be very disappointed to find out it didn't take," he breathed in her ear before taking his seat again. "I'm not in need of your professional assistance, but I've enjoyed your company."

"Year and a half? You look good for a dead guy," she replied. The fuck was this guy into?

"Thanks. It's a work in progress. I was lucky to get picked up by another dead guy a few months back. I wasn't in full control of my mind for much of my time away. I was advised you might know a little bit about that and may be a little understanding of my need not to fall asleep in places I may not recognize when I wake up," he said.

That set off all her alarms. "You sure you don't need my professional assistance?"

"Definitely not. That problem has been resolved, apart from some surprisingly vivid PTSD and mental health glitches, but a lot of unexpected obstacles have popped up to keep me from, well, returning to my previous life."

"What am I missing here, Matt? You're a blind guy with some exceptional bedroom skills, who the hell wants you dead?"

He smiled faintly. "I've already said too much. You do good work and you don't need to get caught up in what's coming my way."

The more he politely told her that he didn't want her to get involved, the more her curiosity grew. She hated her brain sometimes.

"I have to go. Maybe I'll see you around - "

"Fuck. Is there anything I should be listening out for?" she asked.

He hesitated after he got to his feet. "No."

"But?" she pushed.

"There's a nurse. If you happen to run into her, tell her that Kingpin's hunting for the Devil. I'll be very interested in her reaction."

"Fisk is locked up," Jessica replied just to keep him talking. How the fuck did this guy know Claire?

"Sure, and we all hope it stays that way. But she should know and respond appropriately."

She watched him disappear into the sidewalk crowd without a cane. She didn't become a PI because she was good at walking away from mysteries and there was something about this guy.

 

* * *

 

  
"No offense, but I wasn't expecting a girl's night invite from you," Claire said, putting her beer down before she shrugged out of her jacket and slid into into the bar's booth.

"Ew," Jessica replied. "But better that than a date, I wouldn't want to upset your mister."

"Ew, that's over now. You didn't know?" Claire countered.

She was surprised. "No. Shit, my bad. Um. Do you need to talk about it, because - "

"No thank you very much," Claire snorted. "How's Trish?"

"Also off the discussion table. God, we suck," Jessica sighed, raising her beer.

"You said you had a question for me and I'm bored enough to rise to the bait. Is it about a case?" she asked after she clinked.

Jessica shook her head. "Not exactly. I accidentally made a friend, I think, and he's pretty insistent that he doesn't need my help. But - I think he knows you. Or knew you," she corrected.

Claire blinked at her, visibly confused.

"He talks in a lot of riddles, like, he's on the run but - he said if I knew a nurse I should tell her that the Kingpin's looking for the Devil to see how she reacts. Does that mean - "

Claire spit beer into her sleeve and lost all the color in her face. "What? Who - back the fuck up." She didn't actually expect that visceral of a reaction but Claire grasped her wrist like a cuff. "Who told you that?"

"Someone that says he's been dead a year and a half," Jessica replied. She'd known Claire longer and this was suddenly important.

Claire released her and deflated against the vinyl seat, wrapping her arms around herself. "He's - he's alive? That zombie bitch didn't kill him?"

"I don't know that much. What's this all about, Claire? Who *is* this guy?"

She suddenly squared her shoulders and reached into her wallet and tossed a twenty down. "I want to hire you, Jessica."

"What's the case?" she replied automatically.

"Find out what that _bitch_ did to my friend," Claire hissed.

"Tell me about him, Claire. What is this?" Jessica demanded, unsure of how to take the genuine emotion in her voice.

"Midland Circle." Jessica remembered the weird earthquake that never made full sense to her. "There was this whole thing with ninjas and mystical resurrections and mind control. Matt saved the city. He saved thousands of people. He went with her, the crazy _undead_ ninja queen so she wouldn't destroy us all and we fucking let him," Claire spat out the last words.

Wait. "What?"

Claire slumped, avoiding her eyes. "We had him declared dead to protect his identity. A friend's been wearing his suit to make it seem like he never disappeared."

"His suit? I don't get it." Jessica still didn't understand.

"Of course you don't," Claire sighed. "I was his friend and even if I didn't admit it until after he was gone. I knew his friends, his priest, his fucking social security number and I couldn't - I didn't say a fucking word until it was done because I was too much of a coward to try and figure out another way. His identity was - I protected it as long as I fucking could, too long because - "

Jessica coudn't hide her shudder. Ouch.

"I knew why keeping his identity a secret was so important because his enemies came for me once," Claire added, lowering her voice. "It's why we let the imposter watch over the Kitchen, to protect his legacy. But Fisk - he wasn't on the table at the time."

She hoped she was misinterpreting Claire's lead. "Shit. The Devil put Fisk away."

"But that's not the same man wearing the suit right now," Claire admitted.

"Matt?"

"He fights like he fucks," Claire held her gaze steadily. "Like he's got the devil in him, you know? There's a reason Elektra was obsessed with him. She was a merciless killer - and we just let him walk into her web so we could get out alive."

"Okay, I need to know so much more, but he did tell me a few vague things that make sense. He said he wasn't in control of his mind for a while, but that the problem was resolved. I think he's more worried about the Fisk bounty right now. Maybe you should hire me to protect you for a while instead of sniffing around whatever's down that trail."

"I expect you to do that for free," Claire snorted, raising her bottle.

Jessica wouldn't deny that. "Give me something to take back to him, I'll see if I can set up a meeting."

"Tell him that Danny took his final words to heart. I don't want to lose any more friends and I'd really like to start getting some back," Claire said darkly. "But I need to know what she did to him and how he got away."

"I'm on the case, but you can keep your money - or even better, use it to buy another round."

 

* * *

 

  
"You reallly should have hired me and paid me to stay out of it. Instead, your nurse is now paying me to dig you up," Jessica announced, smug that she'd found the blind asshole before midnight on her first round of bars.

He turned toward her, pointedly making eye contact which - _weird_. "Sorry, I'm working right now. Maybe wait for me outside?" he asked in low voice.

Her cell phone buzzed and she was honestly a little put-off by his 'faking sight' game.

_"Seriously, Lady, we know you and Red have a whole stalking each other thing going on but he's busy right now. Keep walking, use the back exit."_

"What kind of work do you have him doing?" she asked. Maybe he was still under some kind of control if he had these 'handlers' watching his every move.

Once she was in the dimly lit alley at the side of the bar, she saw the door of a battered van open a few yards away. Fuck, her self-preservation skills were at an all time low because she hopped in without hesitation.

"How did he do with the eye contact? Do you think he's passing for normal?" the scraggly haired guy asked with bright eyes.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jess demanded as she took in the multiple screens filling the wall of the van showing street and interior rooms no one should have access to legally.

"I have no relevance to whatever case you're working," he replied. "I'm tech support. Your boy is working his lie-detector magic and eavesdropping on these guys on the fourth floor - " he pointed at a screen filled with suits. "You distract him like crazy so you can't be in there when he's trying to focus."

She recognized a few of the men as leaders in the local gangs and mafia but she tried to stay out of that kind of drama unless her case required it - that was more in Luke's wheelhouse these days according to Claire's updates.

The van's driver door opened and she cursed internally at the familiar (for all the wrong reasons) man that turned and narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm Pete. That's Micro and your friend is Red. Can you deal with that?"

Fuck Frank Castle. She scrambled into the passenger seat and reminded herself she could rip the doors off this thing without straining herself. She could have a chat with the Punisher if she had to. "How the hell are you mixed up in this?"

"Red and I have history. Not the best kind, but not the kind you forget," Frank grumbled. "Punk turned up in a shelter acting like a headcase - it would've killed Karen to see him like that."

"Karen?" Jessica asked as she processed the rest.

"Their ex," Micro answered from the back through a mouthful of chips.

Frank shrugged. "What did the nurse tell you?"

"That he was her friend and they sacrificed him to an evil ninja queen to save New York," Jessica replied.

Micro whistled. "Haven't heard that part."

"Whoever had him - he swears he went willingly. None of that sacrifice bullshit, but Red's martyr complex is well-documented," Frank muttered.

"She also seems to think that the chick was already dead. She wants me to check to make sure Matt's got a heartbeat," Jessica said.

"Her name was Elektra. I thought she was pretty dead a few years back but her freshly decapitated head's sitting in a coroner's drawer in Detroit as far as we can tell. Must've happened around the same time that Red turned up here with scrambled brains."

"So you just decided to be a good Samaritan and groom him into working for you instead?" Jessica asked.

"He's not working for us, he's working _with_ us," Micro protested.

"Look, Lady. Red and I weren't friends - Karen loved the bastard, _grieved_ the bastard.  He was the only person that managed to put Fisk away.  Nelson and Karen go to church once a month to light a candle for Murdock but the fake Devil can't make those cross-street leaps on Third without busting his ass.  So, Murdock's dead on paper but the Devil's still out on alternate weeknights - and suddenly Fisk is back on the scene?  I didn't know who the hell to trust when it came to dropping him off on a doorstep."

"The impostor is a friend of his, I think. They thought he was dead and didn't want people to find out he was Daredevil," Jessica said. "I don't think they know about Fisk. Claire wants to know Matt's status before she tells anyone anything."

"Shit, Matt's going to lose his shit if it's that rich kid," Micro muttered.

"I'll take it if it means he's not a Kingpin spy," Frank said.

Jessica waved her hands to quiet them. "So you haven't been hiding him for nefarious reasons but because you didn't know who was wearing his suit?"

"Right. And the whole mentally unstable thing, that too," Micro replied after a beat.

"He's better now," Frank snapped and Jessica took note of his defensiveness.

Micro leaned his head between the seats. "Sorry, Frank's gotten a little attached."

"Red wasn't in his right mind. He's still missing chunks of memory but - we're watching each other's back. It's a new thing we're trying," Frank said quietly.

"Meeting's breaking up, he's on the move," Micro announced.

"Give me a couple of hours to sort him out and we'll call you with a meeting spot. He probably needs to talk to your friend and we need to know about the impostor," Frank said.

She buckled her seatbelt instead. "I think I'll stick around and see how you 'sort him out'."

Frank glanced back at Micro. "You sure about her?"

Micro gave a thumb's up and winked at her. "You're my daughter's favorite superhero. She hates karate but she really likes the way you punch people in the face. You're on the list of PTA approved role models because you helped somebody on the board."

"I don't know why you bother with code names," Jessica told Frank.

 

* * *

 

  
"Don't corner him, we have a five step checklist before we can lock down," Micro advised her as she followed Frank through a shuttered townhouse that was sparsely furnished but had an entire wall devoted to computers and monitors.

She hung back when Frank stepped into the garage where Matt was waiting inside by the side door. His face was hidden in the shadow of his dark hoodie but she saw a flash of his glasses so at least he wasn't faking sight for the moment.

"Where are you?" Frank called.

"Chelsea."

"What day?"

"Thursday."

"What was your father's name?"

"Alexei."

Frank held up his hand when Jessica glanced at him and Micro visibly stiffened behind them at the keyboard.

"Shit," Matt said. " _Jack_. My father's name is Jack. I ordered the wrong thing at the bar. She set me off," he motioned to Jessica.

"How so?" Frank asked. She forced herself not to react to the offhanded mention of her as if she wasn't in the room.

"Names. She knew me. I wasn't focused on my name tonight, I was *listening*. Start the list over. I want to talk to her," Matt said.

Frank gave her another 'keep cool' look before he continued in that 'don't scare the feral dog away' voice. "What's your birthday?"

It took three more rounds before Matt passed five questions in a row. She was cold through her bones at the thought of his 'mind' being that mismatched. Kilgrave was a monster - so what did that make Elektra?

"Pass. Good boy," Frank said, holding out a hand. Matt had crossed the garage in baby steps and was inside the house.

"Jess tastes like whiskey. Elektra never let me have whiskey," Matt said, loosely draping his arms around Frank and leaning his head against his shoulder. "Can I talk to her?"

"You're on your own, Red, you're in control," Frank said, rubbing a circle over his back in a soothing motion. "Why did you agree to tonight if you were this shaky?"

"Because I wasn't shaky," Matt said, turning out of the Punisher's weirdly gentle embrace and facing her. "Jessica. I'm so sorry you had to see all that but - "

"No," she said, catching his hand. "I think I needed to see it. I'm not sure I want to tell Claire that you're BFF's with the Punisher, though. Sorry I threw off your game."

"Elektra had me memorize all kinds of cover stories, depending on what drink she ordered for me," he said. "I have to meditate, come upstairs?"

"Keep the door open, we're having dinner in an hour and need your debrief," Micro called from the other room.

"He thinks he's funny," Matt muttered. He still didn't let go of her hand as he tilted his head toward Frank. "Jigsaw wasn't there, they mostly talked about the dirty Fentanyl tracking back to Harlem. It wasn't the meeting we needed."

"Still want you down for dinner," Frank said.

"I'll bring him back intact," Jessica said, feeling on steadier ground when she was alone with Matt for the first time since he turned into a case.

The bedroom wasn't much, a mattress covered in twisted of silk sheets. A bible, a rosary and a set of thick restraints.

"What?" he asked.

"Are the cuffs necessary?" she asked.

"Frank's not always here when I wake up," Matt said quietly. "I have to do the five questions before I go out, too."

"It seems to be working. But that's not going to satisfy Claire," Jessica said. "She's worried about Fisk, sure, but she's really worried about you - about what Elektra did to you. I'm supposed to check for proof of life." She pressed her fingers against his throat for his pulse underneath the ragged beard.

"I'm not - "

She silenced him with a kiss, to check for breath. "Your name is Matthew Murdock. What's my name?"

"Jessica," he smiled, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I'm never buying you a drink," she added and he sank into her arms with her sudden kiss. She didn't think this counted as meditating but she wanted him to know that he wasn't shattered enough to be broken yet.

He gently pushed her away but kept his hand around her fingertips. "It's hard to keep up with what's in my head on a good day but there's something about you - I can't think about anything else when you're around."

She regretted the kiss but he didn't release her fingers until he stepped out of reach. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm very interested, but our timing's shit," he grinned.

* * *

 

  
The initial meeting went  _okay_ , if you didn't count Claire's miniature breakdown before she invited in her escorts to the party.

"Everybody stop - " Jessica whistled sharply. "Matt. What's my name?  _Fucker_. Answer me." Her glare cut Frank off from jumping in and she was grateful when Matt actually responded and everyone else shut the fuck up.

"Jessica."

"And who's the very nice lady beside you that smells like antiseptic?"

"Claire. Shit - _Danny_ \- is that you?" Matt shuddered and Frank did step in to clamp a hand on his shoulder.

"Steady, Red. What set you off?" Frank asked with a steady look at their unexpected guests.

"Blades singing with the blood of the damned," Matt whispered and the woman took a step back.

"You can put it in the garage and take it on your way out," Micro chirped brightly and she darted from the room.

Danny had no sense of self-preservation and took Matt's hands and placed them on his face. " _Matt_. I missed you. I have so much to tell you."

Her opinion of Matt's toughness immediately dropped when he tucked the kid's head against his chest like a precious teddy bear.

"Colleen. Oh, honey," Matt said and the lady immediately joined the hug with a grunt of force.

"We would have come for you if we'd known - we - " Colleen said, pulling away first and swiping at her eyes.

"It wouldn't have mattered - she broke me, like a fucking twig," Matt choked out when Danny didn't release his wrists. "I'm so sorry, she got in my head, she - I served her, The Hand, I - "

"Stop it - you're home, you're alive - you're free so she didn't win - " Danny shook him firmly.

"She won - " Matt repeated.

"She's dead, he should have opened with that. Whatever hold she had over him snapped when she died. Dunno who dropped him here," Frank said.

"Her link with me didn't work, not the way she wanted - she didn't like me mindless, but she knew I'd run if she gave me full autonomy," Matt hesitated. "Time wasn't a concept for me at the time, but eventually when she sent me out to kill someone - I didn't question her." He laughed sharply. "She stopped me, can you believe it? Said she didn't want me to break my no-murder rule for her but - every kill on her tab when I was with her counts as mine, too."

"Wait - she stopped you?" Danny interrupted.

"You said the link didn't work the way she wanted," Claire cut in. "You leaked all kinds of Catholic guilt in her head, didn't you?"

He snorted but smiled faintly. "That's one way to put it. I made her more human and she made me...less."

"Was there - I can't believe I'm asking this but - did she take care of you? You weren't, like, locked in a cage or anything right?" Colleen whispered.

Matt tilted his head. "No. She bathed me, dressed me. I was only allowed to eat from her hand to make sure I wasn't poisoned. There was a lot of sex. Bloodplay. Restraints, but it was part of the sex. No cage. I couldn't tell what state, what country we were in, I was always by her side. I didn't want to leave."

"Because she was in your head," Colleen replied softly.

"At the time, there was nowhere else I wanted to be," Matt said.

Claire lowered her voice and spoke to Frank. "Has he seen a doctor or anyone outside of this room for an eval?"

"A buddy looked him over," he shrugged. "Reworked some mental health protocols to help us with the whole 'routine' to settle him down but we keep it via phone since things got hot. What's the story with those two?"

"They 'imprinted' on him a few days before he disappeared," Claire answered. "The Hand wanted Danny for some mystical reason and Matt caught wind of it and tried to warn them. Then Elektra turned up and everything went to shit."

"Is that safe? I thought we were trying to keep him away from ninja stuff," Micro asked.

"You've been wearing the suit? Oh, Danny, you're in so much shit now," Matt said from across the room.

 

* * *

 

  
"Do you think she drugged him with something? I know, you're going to say it was mostly magic but - " Claire started, tossing her napkin on her decimated paper plate.

"Maybe it would help to know what kind of mojo she used," Jessica said.

Micro gathered the trash in a lazy loop with a garbage bag. "Urine tests were negative for drugs, but the memory gaps and defensive responses made our guy treat it like brainwashing."

"It involved blood," Frank stated with a tired sigh. "Just the scent of it makes him flip. And he's scarred to hell and back."

"He always was," Claire said.

Jessica hesitated. "It's different. Intricate, like someone went over the old marks and made new ones."

Colleen appeared looking slightly shell-shocked and Claire tugged her down to sit. "What's happening in there?"

"They're coming out of it, there was a lot," she said blankly. "You were talking about the blood stuff?"

She didn't feel bad about forgetting that Matt had superhearing when she'd known him the shortest time. "You have something to add?"

"Elektra was dead, but she could fake it if she took enough blood," Colleen said. "If she tasted your blood, you were linked to her - it's how she kept control. Matt wouldn't - 'be' with her if he couldn't hear a heartbeat so she took enough to fake it."

"That's sick in a whole lot of different ways," Claire whispered.

Colleen nodded slowly. "Right. But it messed her up because she took blood from Matt, regularly. He got weaker, unable to fight with her or for her and she wouldn't let anyone hurt him. When the Elders came for her, she gave her head willingly on their word that he would be spared."

Frank leaned forward, coiled with suspicion. "How do you know all that?"

"Danny's reading his chi, and you don't have to understand it to believe that it works. He's the Iron Fist," Colleen replied defiantly.

Micro perked up. "Oh, I've heard of him - he's got a glowing hand, right?"

Jessica lowered her heads into her hands and muffled a groan. "I cannot take any more of this." Claire patted her on the shoulder.

"Thank you for making this happen," Claire said. "Matt's alive and that's - things are already better just because that's real. Even if Wilson Fisk is still a thing that matters - it's okay because Matt's alive."

"You're out of the danger zone for that, far as we can tell," Frank said to Claire. "Messing with you would clue in Harlem and Fisk seems concentrated on the Kitchen for now." He scanned Jessica. "They vetted your sister, the blonde, but she didn't bite."

"What?" Jessica demanded.

"To be fair, we didn't know Trish Walker was enhanced or that there was a connection to you, but Fisk has been sending out emissaries to make sure he has a network in place when he returns," Matt said as he stepped into the room with Danny. The two men still looked exhausted but there was more color in their skin. "Vanessa, his fiancee handled that meeting long before I met you."

"The Meachams were on his radar, too," Micro told Danny. "But they never got a meeting."

"They're mixed up in some bigger things than territory," Colleen said. "We're watching the situation."

Matt moved over to lean against Frank's chair. "Danny won't wear the suit for a while, but he'll keep his ear to the ground. The imposter's off the list of unknowns."

"So we're back to a holding pattern on Fisk. You good?" Frank asked him.

"Yeah. Good call on the meeting," Matt replied.

"Give them the warning, the wife insists everyone gets it," Micro pointed finger guns at Frank.

Frank grumbled. "Civilian casualties are not negigible. If we're in 'uniform' then we're probably on different sides. Stay in your lane and I'll stay in mine."

Matt snorted. "What he means is we're not friends if we run into each other on the streets, but you're still expected to show up for dinner and buy raffle tickets if the aforementioned wife has offered them."

 

* * *

 

  
"Keep me updated, I mean it. Your shady new friends have the tech, you can manage a text or email on a regular schedule, right?"

Jessica thought Danny and Colleen's goodbyes had taken a while but she was considering peeling Claire's arms off the man.

"The world doesn't deserve you, Claire. I promise I'll be in touch when I can, preferably in person when I know my own name, yeah?" He kissed her forehead and Jessica had to look away at her soft sigh and squeeze.

Claire didn't look at her when she headed toward the garage exit to wait for her.

"Sorry about all this. I know it's not what you expected when you picked up a blind guy at a bar," he said.

She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, kissing him with a soft sigh. It was a tactic that had worked so far and it didn't let her down. "Sappy fuck. I'm not looking for a boyfriend but I like being your drinking buddy. And I'm kind of invested in keeping my city safe after tonight's little pow-wow. Can't let the Punisher show me up."

He was cute when he was surprised and she had another rush of fondness when he leaned in for a longer kiss. "I really wish my head was sorted so I could seduce you properly. Save some time for that later."

"I know your secrets now, and the 'hot mess' part was noted on record long before your death," Jessica snorted. "I'll see you soon."

Claire lunged for her when they were out of view of house, hugging her tightly. "You - it was like, two days ago and you found him and he's - "

"Pretty messed up. You're not upset?" Jessica asked.

"I'm very upset - but I'm too relieved that he's alive to think about any of that. You're pretty into him, I don't think any of us expected that," she admitted.

"I hate lawyers, and fuck religious guys," Jessica said. "But that guy - the one that you just met?  He's my type."

 

 

_(and what do I get?)_  
_Thirty nights of violence and sugar to love_

**Author's Note:**

> Title and chapter tags belong to Deftones "MX", if you're into that.
> 
>  
> 
> _(One day, I will learn how to write Luke but his voice never sounds right. ILU Luke, why won't you talk to me?)_


End file.
